A growing number of devices use near field communications (NFC) for a variety of purposes. For example, an NFC antenna can be used in mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), computers, check-out registers or point-of-sale equipment, vending machines, parking meters, automated teller machines (ATM), and so forth. An NFC antenna enables smartphones and other devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into proximity, such as at a distance of 10 centimeters (cm) or less.
The relatively small communication distance between devices can provide a secure communication channel because other devices may not intercept a communication for a farther distance away. For example, NFC devices may be used for payment transactions or other financially critical applications. Typically, to communicate using NFC, a device needs a separate NFC antenna. However, while many devices may have multiple antennas to communicate on cellular networks, wireless local area networks (WLAN) (e.g., Wi-Fi® network), or a personal area network (e.g., Bluetooth® network), the devices may lack a separate NFC antenna. While NFC can provide a convenient and secure communication channel between devices, the use of NFC may be limited as many devices may not have a separate NFC antenna.